The denial of human dignity in the age of human rights under Australia’s Operation Sovereign Borders

Abstract

In 2007, Mohammad was working in exchange for room and board at a small surf resort in New Ireland, Papua New Guinea (PNG). An Australian lawyer had made this arrangement for him so he could spend some time off of Manus Island, where he had been detained since attempting to reach Australia by boat from Indonesia to claim asylum. Four years earlier in Iran, Mohammad had been a university student who was politically active both by writing against the government and by participating in protests.